Christmas Sneak Peak

I moved the cabinet to this wall and today I pulled items from various other rooms to make this Christmas vignette.

We love how it looks as you walk in the front door.

Welcome Christmas 2014

I'm so Happy that Christmas is almost here! 

Today I'm sharing my House decorated Simple this Season. 

I'll post a few more Christmas pictures as I finish my vignettes before guests start to arrive. 

Feel free to click on the photos to see more details!

~~Merry Christmas ~~

When One is Sick...

Our oldest hasn't been feeling good for about a week, it started as a typical cold but wasn't getting any better...

  

Today at an impromptu DR's visit (they kindly snuck us inbetween other patients) we got the dreaded verdict of BRONCHITIS. So we had a breathing treatment while at DR's and was sent home with 2 heavy scripts. 

 When one is sick it's time for Snuggles and plenty of rest!

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone has a Wonderful start to 2014!

I do not have any New Years Resolutions this year. I can never keep any of them for the whole year anyways.

I Hope to be more Organized this year, I need to work every day on being Organized.

That is all I'm hoping to keep up with for the whole year!

How about you?

Barnes and Nobles Haul

We went to Barnes and Nobles last night to let the kids pick up one book each. I of course,had to pick up a few books for myself. 

It was nice to see everyone's eyes light up with their choice of books. We have Reading time right before lights out for about an hour and for that hour last night everyone got lost in another land or another time/state and then this morning they shared what they had read so far. 

I can't wait to start reading the ZOO by James Patterson!

What are you reading for the month of Jan.? Do you have any reading goals for 2014?

Cooking Friday- Turkey Soup

We have so much leftover Turkey today and the kids were getting tired of leftovers so I found this very easy Recipe online. 

It has turned out so Yummy and we have plenty of leftovers for dinner tomorrow. The kids have voted this in as a Keeper!

Everything that I used is in my Youtube video and I simmered everything together for about an hour, We believe that it will taste better tomorrow as the flavors meld together in the fridge.

Hope your Friday is as Relaxing as ours tonight!

Kitchen Organization- Under the Kitchen Sink

Today I'm finishing off my kitchen organization series with my small storage under my kitchen sink. In this rental we have a Reverse Osmosis Water System which really filters everything out of our drinking water and is very nice. 

 

While it is very nice and I love a tall glass of cold fresh water, it has not left us with a lot of storage space under here

I found this round bucket at my local Wal-Mart for around $16.00. It holds all of our dish washing tabs and extra sponges/ect. 

So today is the start of our Holiday decorating. We are trimming the tree and I'm filling out Christmas cards to Family. We are having a baking frenzy on Sat. And the kids are excited for Chocolate chip cookies!

Kitchen Organization- The Junk Drawer

Every since we moved in to this Rental, this drawer has been a slight pain. We had pencils and pens for homework right beside ziplock bags. Space is limited so I have to do the best I can with what is available and I'm making do until we can move.

It took just about an hour in the afternoon before the kids came home to empty, wash and sort through the items that were stuffed in here. I have purged many items and re-arranged this drawer space.

Here is a short vlog on the before and after, enjoy it if you have time..I love making these vlogs and am wondering how many of you watch?

I'm decorating the house for a Christmas tour but find that I'm just not feeling crafty since it's still hot here and we miss Snow. I'm sure our tree will be Beautiful though!

Joining these fun Ladies~
No Minimalist Here
Savvy Southern Style

Kitchen Organization-The Silverware Drawer

We all have that one huge drawer that Silverware and utinsils get lost in , I sure do. Before Christmas comes around I want to get my Kitchen cabinets organized and as neat as can be so we can find everything that we need to cook and bake Yummies with. 

I'm not an Organized person by nature so I have to work at it. I recently bent my Husbands arm enough that he took me to a Container Store which is an hour from us. 

After, Everything has a Place

I bought 3 of the Mix&Match clear dividers and look how lovely it is now. I can breath again, everything has a home with room to grow. 

Ugly Before, Silverware in Dishwasher getting freshened up

Here is a clip of what I bought and how I organized everything, Enjoy when you have time!

Linking with these Wonderful Blogs~
Between Naps on the Porch
Savvy Southern Style

Christmas Re-Cap

Christmas was a very nice time here at the Graves Household, both G'mas came over along with my sister and even though there were moments of drama mixed in, the kids had a great time. I decided to not film them opening their presents this year like I have done last year because I got some very rude comments about how we had not given the oldest daughter enough presents..I'm not going to even acknowledge them since my oldest daughter is very happy!

We went over to my Step-Sister's and helped her bake/frost cookies and we had a blast!

We ate and ate and today I'm happy that Husband bought me a new bike so we can step up our riding this year! I'm having a great time riding with Husband, great excercise and we get to spend time together outside, something I have missed since moving from the farm.

On Christmas day my Scentsy lightbulb blew out and I bought a Wal-Mart Limited Edition Peppermint candle and we were so disappointed in the scent throw of this candle, even being in the same room with it and we could hardly smell it. What are your fav. store bought candles? I can't always run to BBW for their Slatkin candles or Yankee Candle store.

I leave you with a few pics that I was able to grab with my Iphone as the kids were grabbing seconds of Christmas dinner and one of us at my Step-Sisters frosting cookies.

An Early Christmas Present, Reading....

This Christmas I was surprised by my Husband with an Kindle Touch, a early Christmas present, My new toy that I'm having so much fun with!

I have already loaded her up with a few FREE Kindle books from Amazon. My Husband surprised me by buying and loading the new Diana GaBolden book "The Scottish Prisoneer". She is my all time fav. author and I'm eagerly awaiting her next book in the Outlander series. I still love hardback books but this is oh so easy to slip in my purse and my nightstand is looking clutter free since I don't have a stack of books on it..I found a nice candle to put in their place!

I am looking for a pretty cover for my Kindle's safe keeping...Do you know of any Etsy shops that sell these or maybe pretty ones in a store?

I'm linking up with Flip Flops & Pearls  for her Christmas Party!

The Tree is Trimmed

So we finally trimmed the Christmas tree, It was a nice evening with G'ma Terri and Christmas music playing in the background. 

It has been hard for us to get into the Christmas Spirit this year since FL is still in the 80's and it's getting colder in OH. We are putting our Smiling faces on for the kids though and hoping that next year will be a better year.

I have enjoyed looking at everyone's Christmas decorations and seeing what ya'll have bought this year and the baking I have seen...Yum!!

Am I the only one that will be out finding the last Hot toy of the season? Yup..not done yet with the Christmas shopping...lol..Every year I swear I'll be more prepared but it never works out.

I did receive a Christmas present early and I'm having so much fun with it, I'll share more on this tomorrow!

Enjoying the Body Shop...Small Haul

Can you believe I've never shopped at "The Body Shop"? I have always ran into Bath and Body Works for my goodies. With all the fab. sales going on right now I was able to get 3 body washes with free shipping for less than $15.00.

All 3 smells really good and I can't figure out which one is my fav. My oldest daughter is trying to steal one of them...lol..

What are your Fav. products from "The Body Shop"?

Kristen's Christmas Give-Away

You may go here : Kristen's Creations  to enter her give-away.

I LOVE her frames and I have wanted one for the longest time now!